Spartacus Maximus

The kata Seiunchin is typical of goju ryu lineages and their offshoots. It isn’t included in any of the other schools classified as Naha-te such as Uechi ryu, Toon-ryu(very rare, possibly extinct),Ryuei-ryu or Kojo-ryu(very rare in Okinawa)

A kata called Kintaro definitely sounds like a joke. That would be akin to calling a kata “robin hood” or something similar. Kintaro is a character from popular Japanese folklore. Unless of course the name is a corruption or bastardized distortion of an original kata name. Mainstream kata lists from most karate schools are quite easily found online. Even Wikipedia has a very complete list of karate kata included in several styles. All karate has its roots in Shuri(shorin ryu line) or Naha(goju ryu line). Only a few exceptions exist such as uechi ryu and styles with mixed roots. All styles stemming from shorin ryu such as shotokan and off-shoots include the Pinan kata and the naihanchi. The Naha styles all share sanchin and perhaps one other.

Mistakes can be made but as the customer it is a good idea to do as much research as possible to get the most accurate specifications and details for the desired weapon. This can be done by consulting a variety of knowledgeable sources to find the best fit. A skilled professional woodworker will then be able to follow that and make something of very good quality even if they aren’t familiar with kobudo weapons.

It is easy to underestimate the potentially irreversible damage that can be done to one’s body by rushing training. This is especially true of anything that involves repetitive strain or impact to delicate structures such as the smaller joints, tendons and bones of the hands. As for makiwara, many people make the mistake of believing that the physical changes such as calloused skin are the purpose. These changes are not the aim of impact training, but only “side-effects of the body adapting to the repetitive and frequent impact with something hard. The true purpose of makiwara training is to learn, train and practise correct alignment and structure to strike hard(without the protection of gloves) without injuring oneself in the process. Learning and applying correct structure alignment for optimum force is a process that takes time. It must be thoroughly practised to do it consistently. Once achieved power can be gradually added and increased.

The difference between any brand name item made in numbers and a single item which is handcrafted to meet certain personal specifications is always notable. Shureido or any supplier offer products that are made in numbers with general specifications. None of what they offer is aimed at a single individual customer, and none is the work of just one person. By going to a craftsman who will do all the work as asked, one gets a unique one-of-a-kind custom-made item. Sometimes that is the only way to get what one is looking for.

Besides shureido which usually has good quality equipment made in Okinawa, one option can be to go to a professional wood craftsman. It shouldn’t be too difficult to buy a choice piece of the desired type of wood and get the craftsman to make something following details and dimensions provided by a few good photos. If a skilled craftsman can make a chair or other more complicated furniture or objects, a bo, a pair of tonfa or eku ought to be easy. Kobudo wooden weapons aren’t exactly complicated or sophisticated things. Especially to anyone with experience building things out of wood.

This sort of thing is exactly the reason why governing bodies, administration and the political aspects are personally very unappealing. Although they may serve a necessary function for some people, the larger they get, the more problems arise when the hierarchy finds cause to argue, bicker; pull rank. Pride and ego gum up the works and interfere with the essential vocation of perpetuating a system and teaching a martial art. It is unfortunately unavoidable in any governing body to have people who will contest, oppose or be jealous of whenever anyone gets more influence and authority or respect than they do. In the end the only true loyalty that should have any value is the one that exists for one’s teacher. Especially if that teacher put over a decade of effort to pass on hard-earned skills.

Simply this: every sound in Japanese ends in a vowel and at the endings of words the last vowel sound is often weakened to the point of nearly being dropped and almost silent. Occurs mostly with the vowel sound “U” and “I”, in informal speaking.

The injury in the original post sounds like what typically happens when someone tries to do too much and too soon. Hopefully no lasting damage has been done because that is really easy to do. This is why makiwra training must be done slowly and gradually with correct form. In this case the only thing to do after checking the injury is to avoid any impact conditioning until fully and completely healed.

What would be the purpose of having such a website/page?

There are many more people who are more knowledgeable and skilled than Jake Mace. Unfortunately, few of those people are as good at promoting themselves on the net.

When one has been practising martial arts for so long that life without it is impossible to imagine the best to hope for is to be strong enough and healthy enough to keep it up until one’s very last breath.

Just having a place to train and teach out of will cost something for upkeep and to remain usable. Even if a dojo/school is non-profit it has to make enough money to cover the costs of maintenance and in the privilege of using the space. The only kind of dojo/school that makes significantly more than what is needed to cover rent, utilities and other vital expenses are the ones where the instructor is a professional martial arts instructor who made a career out of it , and was successful enough to make a living off of it. In my experience The majority of dojos/schools are run by instructors who earn a living from a good day job or other sources of income. Making a good living by teaching martial arts has never been easy or stable. Historically martial arts teachers have always earned their living from a different source. Professional martial arts instructors who earn a living from the profits of running a dojo/school are the exceptions. Matsumura was a court official and bodyguard to three kings Itosu was a royal secretary Chibana was a sake brewer His student Miyahira was a schoolteacher Other instructors whom I met since beginning Okinawan Karate have all had lengthy careers: hospital workers, policemen, public servants, soldiers and more varied careers than possible to remember. They all had one thing in common: they really really loved doing and teaching martial arts.

Going by what the person concerned was willing to share, the threats were serious, and in one experience there was a weapon(neither a gun or a knife). The worst thing for him seems to be the anxiety/stress immediately after it ended and anticipating having to do it again. Rationally and logically they know the incidents are over and that they happened years ago in a different place far away. Yet the feeling that somehow the attackers might come back or that another similar situation will happen has stayed on all this time. So far they haven’t really realized or accepted that being constantly on guard and subconsciously expecting attacks can freak people out. Finding a tactful way to get through to them might be a challenge. All that close friends have been able to do is listening.

Yes, the behavior is normal insofar as to what would be expected of a traumatized mind. However this person seems to be hyper-sensitive compared to someone who wasn’t traumatized but just generally aware of their surroundings and with a good sense of observation. It is to the point where unsuspecting(who don’t know) are either put off by it, confused because they don’t know what’s going on or just generally uneasy. All the reactions this person gets from others might not be conscious, but it is very obvious to someone watching the interactions. The general impression seems to be: “this person has something about them and it might not be a good idea to get too close”. Most of the time this person is oblivious to what they’re doing or how they might be unsettling to others. One close friend pointed it out and it wasn’t received very well. The person just said it wasn’t a big deal and quickly changed the subject. If this constantly “on guard” mindset increases it could have unpleasant consequences for more than just social life.

There is a common understanding among the older generation of Okinawans that the very concept of “kihon” as something separate from kata is relatively new. The kihon kata of isolated “blocks” etc were intended to emphasize and highlight certain key body mechanics and principles specifically for teaching groups when karate came out of secrecy and taught publicly. In karate(or any martial arts) practical application nothing is ever exactly identical to training, but if principles and correct mechanics are followed the techniques will work. The “how” and “where” they are used depends the individual.

Experiencing a self-defense situation or assault has certain effects on those who go through it. This happens even when the defender was successful in countering the attack and escape. How long does the after-effects of stress, fear/anxiety paranoia(for lack of a better word) continue? Does it ever really go away? How does one deal with it or help someone else overcome it? Perhaps the worst thing is being thought of as “anti-social”, “weird” or even “crazy/dangerou” by people who don’t understand what it is. Personally, there is an acquaintance like this. This person has had to defend themselves only twice, once successfully without much knowledge injury and another less so. Although it’s been more than a few years since, this person is only comfortable with very close circle of people and behaves in a way that certainly puts off a lot of people. Things like: a) going out of the way to avoid groups/crowds b) not letting strangers or anyone come within normal “speaking” distance and sometimes “looking past” or “through” them or taking steps to positon themselves as if expecting an attack(not as taking a stance) c) cannot stand being startled or approached suddenly and has an intense negative reaction to any physical contact. Even a regular handshake is difficult. What this person went through is not nearly as traumatic as the horror of war or anything of that nature, but it certainly seems to haunt them. The fine line between caution or awareness and “health issue” has clearly been crossed. Any ideas or experiences with this issue?

Isn’t the point of practise and training to be able to “do your stuff” without warming up? Is anyone going to say “wait a tick, I have to stretch and warm up” if/when attacked? Physical defense should become a reflex. If one has to think about it, it will invariably end badly.

That is just creepy as well as being morally, culturally and ethically wrong.

Oyo bunkai is defined by Okinawa teachers as the most simple and obvious explanation of how each technique in a kata is used. It is the demonstration of the principles and body mechanics. Students are asked to learn and master that before moving on to different variations. Once the basic principles and most obvious application are learned, the rest comes naturally. This is why learning the oyo bunkai is so important.

That’s how it was explained in Okinawa and how it was perceived there by Okinawan instructors. The younger crowd didn’t seem to care one way or another but the old timers did not like the “oss” thing one bit. A couple were offended to some degree and others just thought it was stupid “tough-guy bragging”. Another reason is that they didn’t like being associated/confused with kyokushin and its huge influence.

This is indeed the best definition of the meaning of a dan grade/or belt. It has value to the holder only if he holder trusts and respects the judgement of the person who gave it to them. It is a symbol by which the instructor recognizes a student’s dedication to learning and the progress made according to said instructor’s evaluation standards. Evaluating a student’s personal strengths and weaknesses also takes time so the black belt shows this as well. That is why a dan grade or belt is meaningless by itself.

Feeling old and tired lately, though age should not be of any concern and work is nothing that requires and kind of strenuous physical effort. The recent heat wave and humid summer weather are making things worse. It has been really tough finding time in the week to do any kind of training for the last 6 weeks.

What motivates you or how do you motivate yourself to train? Lately it has been very difficult to find the time to train.

Kata in its true form and intended purposes was never meant to be simple physical exercise. Calisthenics and any other athletic development benefits are only secondary and complimentary. Kata (if practised correctly with intent) is mainly concerned with learning, training and ingraining principles or motion and body mechanics that would allow a person to react and defend against a committed act of violence from a larger, physically stronger angrier foe. That is what the old timers trained and spent their lives to hopefully pass on. If one cannot accomplish this, kata is just a weird pantomime.